Would anyone mind if I reprinted Simmonds Speaks from last week because the point still stands about England.

I wrote that: “You can see Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick, England limping out and Hodgson leaving the national side in no better shape than what he inherited.”

So it wasn’t Portugal, it was Iceland. But England limped out and Hodgson left.

I would love to say I can predict the future but I can’t, if I could I would have bet my life savings on Iceland winning 2-1.

Granted, I would have won about £5 but a win is a win right?

The fact remains that England’s defeat on Monday night shouldn’t have been a surprise.

Why? Because they have won just SIX knockout games since 1966.

Paraguay in 1986, Belgium and Cameroon in 1990, Spain in 1996, Denmark in 2002 and Ecuador in 2006.

England haven’t won a knockout game at the Euros outside of Britain.

Sure, on paper England have the better individuals (which I’m really not sure about) but as a team, Iceland play better.

It might be boring and simple but it wins matches at major tournaments.

Every player knows exactly what they are meant to do.

Can the same be said about England? And not just this team, but the players Hodgson took to Brazil. Or Fabio Capello took to South Africa.

When was the last time England had a clear identity from under-18 to senior level?

This for me is where the problem starts. Not with Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshere but with the next few generations, the one that will be competing at the Euros in 20 years time.

My son will be 21 and I hope to have him playing football as he grows up. But the coaching in Britain is still light years behind the likes of Italy and Spain.

Their kids are taught to play in a variety of positions and in multiple formations.

In England, and I say this with over two decades’ worth of Sunday league experience, you start off in one position in a 4-4-2 and until you stop playing nothing changes.

Sure, some kids are moved around but that is more out of desperation and trying to fit them into the team, not because they would benefit from playing right back one week and left midfield the next.

So, when you watch David Alaba excel for Bayern Munich and Austria playing anywhere on the pitch you can see why.

Or even Eric Dier, whose upbringing in the Portuguese youth set-up has allowed him to play centre back and centre midfield.

The last player to do so with such ease was Owen Hargreaves, who ironically came through the German youth system.

Rooney was raised to play as a striker and for some reason, the media and men who coach him believe he can redefine himself as a centre midfielder.

He can’t. His showings for Manchester United and England in the past few months should be enough to see that it hasn’t worked.

He didn’t have a good tournament, despite what certain parts of media would have you believe.

Put under any pressure, Rooney panics. Leave him alone and he panics. He doesn’t have the technique required to play such a skilled position.

However, if from a young age he had multiple games at centre back and centre mid, it may have made the transition now a bit easier.

Instead, you’re left scratching your head as to why the experiment lasted as long as it did in France.

I also wrote last week: “And who replaces Hodgson should he not keep his job?

“No-one immediately springs to mind. Sit down and think about it for a few hours and your mind will still draw a blank.

“Then open the parameters and include non-English coaches and you are left with the image of tumbleweeds floating across the desert — which is also what it has looked like over the past week and a half when England pass the ball between each other.”

Now Hodgson has stepped down, a few names have been touted. Gareth Southgate is doing well with the under-21s but isn’t a favourite by any means. It is assumed he is on the shortlist but only because he speaks the Football Association’s language, which at this point isn’t a positive.

Journalists have mentioned Glenn Hoddle or Terry Venables, both allegedly excellent coaches. But Hoddle was last seen managing at Wolves a decade ago to no success.

Venables, at Leeds in 2003 with the club spiralling towards relegation.

And that’s another problem. Good coaches but terrible managers. Steve McLaren is another “great coach” but put him in a dugout and, well you’ve seen how that story ends.

Do they look abroad again and throw even more money at a manager to come in and fail?

Fabio Capello was hired because of what he did across Europe over a number of years and the belief was that he could bring in a sense of discipline to the side.

However, the players didn’t like that so the Football Association and media told the Italian to be nicer and more understanding towards the players and their feelings.

The result? A drubbing at the hands of Germany.

The FA could look at another Capello type but they have to allow him to manage his way. And give him the tools to succeed long-term.

Someone like Jurgen Klinsmann, who some would argue made Germany what they are today. The way in which he inherited a German team that had been dumped out of Euro 2004 at the group stage under Rudi Voller.

The way in which he ripped up the structure behind the scenes and put together a team and system that would go on to win the World Cup eight years after his departure.

Given that this time last week I said that I could see “England limping out and Hodgson leaving the national side in no better shape than what he inherited,” is the former Tottenham ace a bad shout? Even if he comes in to put in place a long-term solution.

It is easy for me to sit here and write this. I’ve never had to sit in the Wembley dressing room and try to galvanise a group of 11 players who can’t string four passes together.

And games like Fifa and Football Manager make managing seem so easy, which is why social media and pubs are awash before, during and after matches with people saying what a manager should do and questioning every decision they make, forgetting that they have a lot more experience than we do.

However, pay me or any human that has seen a ball being kicked £4.5 million and a year and we could probably get a similar performance out of England.

From me, it may even be better as I would like to think I have the stones to drop some big name players who are not performing.

Twitter fell in love with Alan Shearer on Monday night after his impassioned speech. But this is the same Shearer that failed to inspire Newcastle players from getting relegated. I don’t remember his side having a distinct style of play.

Now eight games is a very small sample size to judge him on but Rafa Benitez had 10 at the same club and you could tell from very early on that the players were instructed to play a certain way.

Not to mention that Shearer is one of the many pundits who has called for Rooney to play centre midfield.

So should he come in and bring in a few new players, who the media have called for, and not really change the ethos surrounding the national team? Why bother? You might as well cut Hodgson’s wages and keep him around.

Looking at the odds for next England manager, I was pleased to see Mark Sampson mentioned, though that was after John Terry, Neil Warnock, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Martin Jol and Capello.

But why not Sampson? He led an England side which was tipped to do nothing to a World Cup semi-final.

What he has done with that side is remarkable and he should be higher up in my opinion.

Emma Hayes should be considered too. The FA Cup final at Wembley aside, her achievements at Chelsea should not be baulked at.

Both Sampson and Hayes have organised their teams to play a certain way and you can tell their players want to play with each other.

That’s what England need at the moment. A plan both on and off the pitch.

Hope Powell was vaguely linked with the role years ago and even she wouldn’t be a bad shout. Women can manage as well, so why not turn to the Women’s Super League and see if the answer is there.

I could sit here and name a bunch of managers who could sit in the big chair at Wembley but the most pressing question is why would anyone want to?